


Feelings Gym

by Le_purple



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Feelings Jams, Fluff, Massage, Minor Aradia Megido/Equius Zahhak, One-Sided Nepeta Leijon/Karkat Vantas, Other, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Rejection, Sad, Showers, Sweat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2019-10-31 02:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17840864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_purple/pseuds/Le_purple
Summary: Nepeta and Equius have a depressing feelings jam in the gym showers.(Originally posted on 18-2-19)





	Feelings Gym

Nepeta stretched her arm behind her head, feeling her matted hair stick to her sweaty skin and move with her arms.  
"Whew! I'm beat!" She sighed, following Equius into the changing room.

"Uh, Nepeta?" Equius said awkwardly, Nepeta cocking her head and smiling in response.  
"This is the men's changing room." He pointed out, Nepeta dumping her bag on the wooden bench and puffing.

"Ughhhh, can't be booothered." She groaned, leaning against him. "There's no one heeerree anywaaaaay! UGGGHHH"

"You can't get changed in the mens changing room, it's lewd!" He argued.

"Lewd shmewd! I need to get changed." Before he could reply, she peeled off her grey tank-top from her sweaty torso and flung it at his head. He stood there, silent. It took a moment to realise what happened.

"Nepeta!" Equius squeaked, his voice breaking as he flailed his hands and pulled off the shirt, Nepeta giggling.

"Plpbpbb! Quit your whining and just get changed! I can smell you from here!"

"Well I WAS going to shower but you're here." He pouted.

"I will forcefully pour bleach on you if you don't shower."

"Nepeta, stop this nons-"

"*Ac holds up the heaviest bottle of bleach evfur, threateningly!*" Nepeta lugged a bottle of bleach from next to the storage closet close and pushed it into his face, grinning menacingly as she sluggishly moved it around.

"Ok, OK! You can get changed while I shower. Can you hand me an unmoistened towel?" Nepeta gingerly clonked the bottle down and patted through some towels, grimacing as she attempted to find one he had not yet drenched in sweat. She picked up the least moist one and threw it at him, Equius walking to the showers.

The showers were directly attached to the changing room, with only a blue glass screen and metal bands across the centre to separate them and the view of the changing room. The air smelt fusty and mouldy, with a sharp, sterile sting of disinfectant. Equius peeled off his own tank-top, his body glistening with sweat. Next he pulled off his shoes and socks, placing them with his neatly folded shirt beside the shower before finally removing his gym shorts and underwear, coloured blue with grey horseshoes.

The tiled floor of the shower was cold under his feet, not helping his aching muscles.  
He had definitely overworked himself.  
With a creak, the glass door to the shower opened and let him inside, the metal shower head that was fixed to the ceiling looming over him. Equius turned the knobs of the shower, the metallic smelling water pouring over him as he shuddered with the cold and hissed in pain until he managed to get the temperature just right. He turned to the metal rack with soap fixed into place and pumped a small mound of the semi-opaque white soap, rubbing it into his face and hair. It smelled more like disinfectant than soap. He scratched his fingers into his scalp, feeling soft foam rise before washing down his arm and dripping into the drain.

"Equius!" He whipped his head around to see a naked Nepeta stepping into the shower, smiling widely. He had to double take.

"Nepeta! What are you doing?!" Equius stammered, his body aching once more as he tensed like a cat.

"Helping!" She sat down on the bench in the shower and patted the seat next to her. Equius blinked his wide eyes. She patted louder, at one point essentially slapping the seat. Equius cautiously sat down, as if he was prey approaching a sleeping lion. Nepeta turned his shoulder, coaxing him into sitting with his back facing her.

"So what's this about?" Equius inquired, turning off the shower and feeling much more comfortable facing away from her. Nepeta sat silently and pawed at his back, feeling the rock-hard muscles beneath the oily skin, Equius shuddering under her gentle yet firm touch.

"It's been a while since we've done this." She said quietly, her almost silent whisper only audible due to the reverberations of the shower.

"Yes...I suppose. It has been some time. What are you doing?"

"Don't play stupid, stupid. You've overworked yourself, I'm not dumb." Equius closed his mouth "You're always 'work work work! strong strong strong!'. Sometimes you need to relax a bit. It's not 'manly' or whatever to be really strong all the time." He felt her dig her thumbs under his sore shoulders, Equius about to object before the tension in his shoulders melted into a sigh away as her fingers rolled around on the muscle.  
"Your back is so greasy!" She laughed, reaching for the soap and pumping some in her hands, small bubbles arising as she lathered it on his back and shoulders.

"You wash my back, I'll wash yours?" Equius suggested, Nepeta snorting in response.

"You'd crush my shoulder muscles."

"You're probably right." Equius felt the layer of soap glide Nepeta's fingers over his back, the pain in his muscles easing away as she dragged her fingers along the expanse of his back; if she hadn't been as strong as she was, his less than malleable muscles wouldn't have dissolved under her firm touch.

"I remember when we used to do this all the time, when you were having troubles with Aradia, and when I was crushing on Karkat..." 

"Mmm. That was when I found out about Aradia's 'explosion', as the doctors called it...I'm just glad shes happier now."

"And after Karkat said all those mean things to me before dating Terezi..." There was a solemn silence as the two sat together, only broken by the rhythmic sounds of dripping. "Man this got depressing quickly. These used to be so...uplifting."

"...I'm just glad that she is feeling better, that she is a lot happier, even without myself."

"Same here. He and his boyfriend are really good together, probably a lot better than I would've been with me." Nepeta abruptly stood up, startling Equius slightly, who moved his neck to feel how the loosened muscles stretched pleasantly and without pain.  
"I'm gonna get ready to go now. I'll see you in the car once you've finished your shower and got some clothes on." Nepeta said quietly, swiftly moving out of the shower, the pattering of her naked feet echoing out. Despite the quick and agile movements, Equius could catch the redness around her sparkling green eyes, wet with tears.


End file.
